Yours and Owls music festival is helping UOW to become carbon neutral

Yours and Owls will contribute to $90,000 worth of solar panels at the University of Wollongong over the next three years, which will sit atop the library and supply power to the UniBar and library year-round.

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It'll be producing around 82,500 kW/h per year (the average household uses around 6,000 kW/h per year) while the long-term aim is to have the majority of the festival powered purely by renewable energy sources.

The progress of the University's commitment is being overseen by the Sustainable Futures Committee under the leadership of Professor Tim McCarthy.

"In planning this festival, sustainability is a focus rather than an afterthought," he said.

"We are delighted by this proactive approach and are looking forward to ways that we can continue to work together in the years to come."

UOW has formally pledged to achieve carbon neutrality no later than 2030.

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Meantime, the festival organisers continue to have sustainability top of mind when they welcome thousands to the UOW grounds in mid-October to see some of Australia's finest musicians.

The festival will serve drinks in reusable cups and eliminate all single-use plastic beverage containers, a test-run of VIPoo toilets in the Metropolis Locale zone where human waste is turned into fertiliser, along with recycling and composting on-site.

It's part of the Party With A Purpose initiates around environmental impact by the Yours and Owls team.

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